 In the Atlantic Coastal Plain, fertile, loamy soil makes the land ideal for agriculture and is responsible for New Jersey's nickname of the "Garden State".The majority of the state's wineries are located in this area.Higher elevations of northwestern New Jersey's Appalachian mountains experience a cooler humid continental climate or microthermal climate (Köppen Dfb) which indicates patterns of significant precipitation in all seasons and at least four months where the average temperature rises above  This differs from the majority of the state, which is generally a humid mesothermal climate, in which temperatures range between -3 °C (27 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F) during the year's coldest month.